“Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.”
I get the question “how do you travel so much?” so often that I decided to share my secrets with the world. You’re welcome fellow humans. If you’re rolling your eyes, you should know that I’m a Leo so I can’t really help how humble I am.
Let’s start with the most important secret:
1) Budgeting
Not trip budgeting, life budgeting. If you don’t have enough money to travel, one of the reasons could be where you generally spend your money.
Do you really need the latest gadgets as soon as they come out? Do you HAVE to have those fancy overpriced shoes? When you decide to spend, do it on experiences not things – experiences last longer.
2) Travel like a local
Wherever you’re going, seek the less touristy areas and spend most of your time there. Not only will you save money, you’ll also get a more genuine experience of the place you’re visiting.
What’s traveling if you don’t get lost in the weird part of town?
3) Pack light
Take only what you need, your chances of getting stranded for a year while on vacation are pretty low. And if that does happen, you can always find a job there and buy new things.
On most of my trips I only take a backpack packed with the essentials.
4) Find a trip package
Find out if there are packages on sites like Expedia that combine flights, hotels and car rentals. Sometimes these can save you a lot of time and money, but you really have to dig to find them.
5) Take your time doing research
Is it better to get a hotel or Airbnb? Are there any minimally sketchy hostels? Should I take the bus or the train? Should I use Uber or risk getting kidnapped by a cab driver?
Depending on where you’re going, these are things you need to consider. Every location is different, don’t assume that the whole world behaves the same way your hometown does.
6) Find the free activities
Nature. Nothing beats the beauty of nature. (Most of the time) nature is free since it’s a bit hard for most countries to charge you for seeing it. And if they do happen to charge, the prices are usually very low and usually worth it.
If you live in the US, a good idea for a cheap fun trip with lots of scenery is a National Park. There are 58 National Parks spread out across the US, find one and go!
7) Travel with a group
“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”
Taking a trip with a group of friends can really help you cut costs while having an enormous amount of fun. Yes it can be stressful to please everyone in the group, but that’s part of the fun. It also gives you lots of stories you can tell when you get back!
8) Allow yourself to spend
Money comes back but your time won’t. Pushing off a trip you can take right now to a later time is probably worse than procrastinating in school.
The older you get, the busier you get and the harder it gets to travel. Your taste will also get more expensive as you get older so the same trip could cost you double or triple if you delay it.
Take as many trips as you can right now, future you will thank you for it. If this motivates you to take a trip, share your story with me!